ARS | Publication request: PERFORMANCE OF EARLY PLANTED POLYMER-COATED MAIZE SEED

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 25, 2001
Publication Date: October 25, 2001
Citation: GESCH, R.W., SHARRATT, B.S., ARCHER, D.W., BALACHANDER, N. PERFORMANCE OF EARLY PLANTED POLYMER-COATED MAIZE SEED. CD-ROM. MADISON, WI: ASA-CSSA-SSSA. 2001.

Technical Abstract: The seasonal period for successfully planting and establishing corn (Zea mays) in the northern U.S. is brief. Largely, this is due to cold, wet soils which impart stress on seed germination and growth. Recently developed temperature-sensitive polymer coatings protect seed from adverse soil conditions and may allow for earlier than average sowing of corn. A field study was initiated at Morris, MN, in 2000 to evaluate the potential of early planting hybrid corn seed coated with a protective polymer designed to break down at approximately 10 deg C. Polymer coated and uncoated seed of a 95- and 98-day cultivar were sown in moldboard plow and no-till systems as early as March 22. Soil temperatures at the 5-cm depth in 2000 did not reach 10 deg C until late April. Early planted polymer-coated corn yielded as much as 1.75 Mg per ha greater than uncoated in a conventional-till and 0.6 Mg per ha greater in a no-till system, and yields were comparable to those of coated and uncoated hybrids sown May 1. Yield differences for early planted corn were primarily due to stand establishment which was as much as 45% greater for coated versus uncoated seed. Total above and belowground biomass per plant tended to be greater for polymer-coated corn during early vegetative growth. Polymer-coated seed shows good potential for extending the period for spring planting in northern regions, which may enable producers with limited equipment and labor to farm more area.